Garden Blog

Certain plants have specific seasons in their growing cycle that are best for digging and dividing, or transplanting. Peonies are best dug in the fall after it has gotten cold both day and night. Once the foliage has begun to turn burgundy, you know the plants are ready to be disturbed.

Digging established plants can be a real challenge. We find it easiest to use what we refer to as a digging fork. It gets around the roots while loosening it from the soil. Shovels or spades would also work but it is more work getting the roots free of the soil. Ultimately you want a bare root plant.

Once the plant has been extracted from the ground, do your best to knock off all the soil. You can be rough here. We often stand the fork in the ground and pound the base of the roots on the handle. Some roots may break off, that is not a problem. The goal is to have a clear view of the roots so you can see where to pull them apart. You can cut the foliage off any any time.

The soil is mostly off now and you can see the new buds emerging at the crown of the plant. The crown is the term used for the juncture of roots and stem growth. These buds are often referred to as eyes. Peony roots and the crown are tough and woody as opposed to being soft and fleshy.

Now you have your clump of roots. They seem to be all entangled and connected. Think of this as an unraveling challenge. If you wiggle the whole mess you will feel some of the spaces between roots opening up. Keep working those until you can break some free. Breaking the crown is perfectly OK. Be sure each root section has at least 3 eyes. Those eyes will grow into stems next year.

Once you have enough clumps to work with start planting. The roots may be long and unmanageable. Go ahead and cut them back to about 6 inches in length. Dig a hole in a sunny site that has good drainage. No need to add fertilizer now, do that in the spring. Bury the roots with the eyes 2 inches below the soil surface. Lightly mulch the first year if you want and water them in.

If you need to move your peony only temporarily due to construction or refiguring the landscape, you do not need to bareroot the plant if you don’t want to. Instead just dig the whole plant out and heel it in a spot in your vegetable garden. If it cannot be planted immediately in the spring then you will need to either leave it there until the fall or dig it first thing in the spring and put it in a pot. Do not divide it in the spring.

First off, who doesn’t love a fall-flowering plant? Saffron’s beauty and landscape opportunity should sell itself, but there are far more reasons why saffron should end up in your garden and on your dinner plate.

Health Benefits

Its real health benefits lie in the saffron stigmas (Pictured above). These sticky orange-red stigmas are the part of the plant used globally for culinary cuisines. The saffron stigmas contain carotenoids which are powerful antioxidants that help regulate stress, cancer, infections, and that help boost immune function. Considering 80% of your immune health comes from your gut, we could all use a little more saffron in our diet. Nutritionally, saffron is very high in iron, manganese, copper, potassium, calcium, selenium, zinc, and magnesium. It also contains high mineral sources, such as vitamin A, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin-C.

Saffon in Your Garden

Saffron can grow in a variety of conditions, but would do best in a garden bed. This crocus variety is a corm and should be grown like any other bulb such as tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. They are a hot and dry loving plant and growing saffron can be an easy addition for any gardener, and offers not only landscape beauty but a healthy investment with a delicious return.

Harvested saffron flowers

Saffron Available at Horsford’s

This fall we will be offering saffron corms at:

10 corms – $15
25 corms – $35
50 corms – $60

Saffron corms

There will be a limit of 50 corms per customer. Supplies are limited, so if you plan to plant some saffron in your landscape, please contact us and pre-order today! Call the nursery at (802) 425-2811, or email info@horsfordnursery.com.

We will also be joining you and planting some saffron here at Horsford’s, in an effort to develop a sustainable, nutrient rich, growing medium for Vermont saffron growers! Stay tuned, as the projects begin this fall.

Many homeowners visit the nursery requesting plants that will attract butterflies. What they actually desire are plants with beautiful flowers that butterflies will gravitate to for their abundant nectar. The choices are many and the gardeners at Horsford’s can select a plant suitable for just about any location. But if you want butterflies to return year after year you need to provide more than pretty flowers. A true butterfly garden needs to have both host plants and nectar plants.

The life of a butterfly is very short. It spends most of its time looking for a mate, looking for a host plant on which to lay its eggs, and drinking nectar. The host plant is the food for the butterfly’s larvae. Larvae must hatch on that particular plant because they do not wander looking for food. Some butterflies have a variety of plants that are suitable caterpillar sustenance, while others are limited. Most people focus only on flowering plants for the nectar. A good example would be the popular Buddleia plant (Butterfly Bush). Buddleia is native to central China and Japan. In the late 1800’s plant explorers/collectors introduced it to Europe and then America. Mid summer it is covered with gorgeous flowers to which monarchs flock offering great photo opportunities. However, not a single butterfly will use it as a host plant.

Coneflower and phlox in a Charlotte garden

It will take a little planning and research but anyone can plant a garden that will have butterflies visiting year after year. The easiest way to start is to install plants that serve the dual purpose of host and nectar. All of the milkweeds (Asclepias) are ideal plants. There is the orange and yellow butterfly weed, the common milkweed, and the swamp milkweed. This collection will fill the garden with flowers from June through September and they are host plants for at least a dozen species of butterflies, the most famous being the Monarch.

Below is a list of other excellent choices for a Vermont gardener wishing to entice butterflies to their gardens year after year. Keep in mind that you should always choose the original or true native of the species. For instance, the native Coneflower is Echinacea purpurea. When you are choosing a plant for both a host and nectar, butterflies prefer this over the newer hybrids.

– Black Cherry trees (Prunus) – many people are quick to cut down Black Cherry trees as ‘weed trees’. Think before you pull out that chainsaw, as the black cherry sustains over 400 moths and butterflies species!

Up until July, the hydrangea occupy a very large corner of the Garden Center somewhat overlooked. Despite their lush green spring growth, they garner the most attention when their familiar white, pink, purple, blue, and lime green blooms start showing off in the summer.

When it comes to picking out a hydrangea even we admit it can be a little intimidating. Below is more information to guide you this hydrangea season.

Hydrangea paniculata (Panicle hydrangea)

A plethora of varieties to pick from in shades of white, lime green, light pink, deep pink. Flowers start white and fade to one color or another with time. Beautiful fresh or dried in arrangements.

These have large leaves with rounded flowers, though they aren’t as globular as the Hydrangea macrophylla. The florets that make up the flower clusters as not as big either. Of all the hydrangeas we carry, this is the only native type. Look for the ‘Invincebelles’ planted along the barn near our cut flower and propagation beds. They have reliably bloomed for many years now.

Their compact habit make them an excellent choice for smaller landscapes. Intriguing, flattened lacecap flowers distinguish them from other hydrangea. We’ve found their bud hardiness is more reliable than Hydrangea macrophylla.

Our Top Hydrangea Questions

1.What’s the bluest hydrangea that will grow well in Vermont?

Hydrangea serrata ‘Blue Billow’ is the most blue of the mountain hydrangeas. If you’re looking for the big-leaf blue hydrangeas (like what you see on the Cape), we’ve found Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bloomstruck’ has the hardiest buds. You will need to amend the soil to be more acidic for true blue flowers.

‘Limelight’ hydrangea

2. Does Horsford’s carry PeeGee hydrangea?

Yes, we do. PeeGee hydrangea can refer to a few different varieties but usually, it’s a full-flowered, panicle variety. Historically it has been Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’. We also recommend Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ since it’s a nice full flower and more upright than ‘Grandiflora’. Hydrangea paniculata ‘Sweet Summer’ is also a nice choice.

While planting, digging, dead-heading, plowing and seeding the fields, mowing, etc. all come to a grinding halt come December, there is still plenty to be done in preparation for next season at Horsford Gardens and Nursery. Happily, there is no sense of urgency so everyone is pretty relaxed.

The company cats take their relaxation very seriously and dedicate hours to perfecting it.

Frederick and Liu relaxing during the winter

Pruning deciduous trees in our fields is a big project. Our ultimate goal is to produce a well-shaped tree with strong leaders and branching that starts at about five feet or more off the ground. This means that when a customer buys it to plant on their property they can plant under it, mow under it, park under it or hang a swing from its branches. Pruning and shaping a tree while it is still young makes for a more attractive tree as it matures.

Ralph pruning crabapples in the fieldsA fresh pruning cut

Some trees may show signs of insect damage, disease or rodent damage, or have weak trunks. They get the saw. There is not a sadder sight or sound to a nurseryman than a saw in the field.

Trees that are not growing strong are composted

Over the course of a season we accumulate a massive amount of debris. It is all separated into individual piles: compost, recycle and burn. The burn pile can become quite dense. We routinely burn it throughout the season. In February we burn whatever has been piled on since November so we can begin in April anew. This would include trees and evergreens that have been out of the ground for just a little too long as well as trees that have obvious signs of disease or insect damage. Not extra Christmas trees and greens, though. All of that went to a goat farm here in Charlotte. ( Their milk may have a slight balsam flavoring to it for a few weeks.)

Brush and natural debris we cannot recycle or compost is burnedOur co-worker Miles’ goats enjoyed the leftover Christmas trees, down to the trunk!

We walk the fields often on the lookout for signs of the presence of rodents: rabbits, mice and voles. Rabbits are uninvited pruners, nibbling the tips of shrubs such as lilacs and ilex. Our defense is to spray the area with a non-toxic but foul smelling liquid that will hopefully send them else where for meals.

Animal damage to shrubsTracks on their way to the buffet

The destruction happening by voles, moles and mice is impossible to see when the snow is deep. That is because they burrow close to the ground where they have set up residence. But once we experience a thaw, look out, those critters are everywhere. The only defense we have, or rather the only defense we are willing to use, is to protect every crabapple and fruit tree on the property with a plastic tree guard. This $2 item is truly a money saver. To keep the little rodents away from our tasty shrubs would require broadcasting poison and we are not willing to do that. There is too much wildlife on the property. So we just cross our fingers and hope that the coyotes, bobcats and hawks know that this is the place to come for the best winter buffet.

Mole tunnels in melting snowRed-tailed Hawks are commonly found at the nursery. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.comCoyote tracks from around the nurseryDeer tracks in the snow

Not everything is all work here during the winter months. Those of us who enjoy it take advantage of the cold snowy weather both here in Vermont and out West. We have lots of skiers, riders, and cross county skiers. Should the ponds, rivers and lake freeze, quite a few of us strap on skates and spend hours bundled up skating up and down rivers and round and round on ponds.

Charlie skiing out WestTed skating on Shelburne PondSteve snowboarding out WestCharlie skating on Lake ChamplainDave skiing out West

Any evergreen you select can be used as a live Christmas tree that can be planted and enjoyed for many years to come. We suggest selecting a tree you most want to have in your landscape.

After bringing the tree home, place it in a protected outdoor spot, such as the north side of the garage. Cover the roots with a bag of mulch to help prevent them from freezing. Mulching a couple of inches beneath the ball will prevent the tree from freezing to the ground. We also recommend placing a bale of straw or hay over the spot where you want to plant the tree to keep the ground from freezing. It really will!

Sometime before Christmas, bring the tree to your chosen spot to celebrate with. Place the root ball in a bucket or garden trug and water. Stash the mulch for later use. Keeping the tree indoors for three days is ideal.

After Christmas, bring the tree out to your planting spot. A spraying with Wilt-Pruf will keep the harsh winter temperatures from drying out the needles. Remove the straw and scrape off the sod. Dig the hole the exact depth of the root ball, no deeper, and two times wider. Plant the tree with the soil you just dug, adding only organic fertilizer to the soil. We use three handfuls of Pro-Gro by North Country Organics. Mulch with the mulch you stashed.

In the springtime, don’t forget this is a newly planted tree and it’s necessary to water it as needed. You can also add three more handfuls of Pro-Gro to the mulched tree ring.

Our Garden Center is happy to help and answer any questions you have. We carry a number of items mentioned above including: evergreens, mulch, bales of straw, rubber trugs, Wilt-Pruf, tools and gloves, Pro-Gro fertilizer, and more.